Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2013 – Iran got its first victory 3-2
(25-20, 24-26, 23-25,25-22,15-12) in their second FIVB World League home encounter
against Serbia on Sunday evening.

Loyal fans packed Tehran at Azadi hall to watch the Pool B
match while others tuned into sports radio and TV, which has helped awaken
national sense and enthusiast Iran’s volleyball team, creating support for the
team’s ability to defeat their rivals.

Iran reduced personal mistakes and improved its ability for
Sunday’s defeat over Serbia.

In the first
set, Iran took command of the game immediately and assembled a solid lead by
8-4, as Serbia’s Nikola Kovacevic narrowed the gap. Iran made substitution and
made the next points to lead and16-13. Serbia had problems passing Iran’s
blocking, and were behind five points by 18-13, but Iran gained points even
from a few triple blocks. Despite a time out and substations by Serbia, Iran finished
the set victory 25-20.

In the second
set, Iran
found a lead 7-6 with good service and spikes of Hamzeh Zarrini, but excellent
spiking by Serbian players brought a one point margin for them by 8-7 in first
technical time-out. Serbia, however, was determined not to give up, and fought
hard to close the set 26-24.

The third set was running in favor of host team as they
showed high keen in gaining scores , by 8-5 got the first technical time-out. Milos
Nikic of Serbia tied the score 9-9 and forced Julio Velasco take his time-out. Serbia
got use from weak dig of Iran by sharp spikes and made gap wider by 19-16. Iran’s
solid blocks and hard spikes narrowed the scores gap 23-24. But after a timeout
by Serbia, the team secured the win at 25-23.

Set four started with effective Spiking of Serbia, and in minutes
they lead 8-6. Iran’s players gained spirit, and with spikes made the
score 15-13. Serbia made substations and cut the difference 19-20, as Celasco
asked for a time out to bring down the heath of opponent team. Moments were
passing slowly for home fans as Iran led 23-22. A service by Mousavi after
touching the net came down in Serb ground at 25-22, and Iran won the set.

Iran was motivated in fifth set after improving
their service and spike to lead 5-2. Serbian used the personal weakness of Iran
players to made scores tie at 10. But spikes by Fayazi and two blocks by
Gholami made the scores 13-10 for Iran. Three substations by Serbia was not
effective, and Iran won the set and game at 15-12.

Iran’s top scorer was Hamzeh Zarini with 18 win
points from 54 attempts. Serbia’s Nikola Kovacevic made 17 points from 58 total
attempts. Mobasheri and Aleksandar Atanasijevic both had 13 points, making them
the third best scores. Iran also surpassed Serbia in other skills such as service,
blocks, digs and sets.